Fans of The Rolling Stones got another treat from the band and from Mercury Studios this weekend as the two sides released the band’s latest live recording, Live at The Wiltern. Released on three separate platforms – DVD/2CD, Blu-ray/2CD, and 3LP – this latest live offering from the greatest band in rock and roll – captured in 2002at The Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA — is the band’s second live recording released in a little more than a year and at least its 17th live recording since the start of the new millennium (if not more). Even being a recording that reaches into the double digits (in regard to how many live recordings the band has released), this recording still proves just as enjoyable as all of its predecessors. That is due in no small part to its featured set list and the band’s performance thereof, which will be discussed shortly. The liner notes that accompany the recording add their own share of engagement and entertainment to the presentation and will be addressed a little later. The overall production rounds out the recording’s most important elements and will also be examined later. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the recording. All things considered they make Live at the Wiltern another wonderful live offering from The Rolling Stones that is also an early entry among the best of this year’s new live recordings.
Live at the Wiltern, the brand-new live recording from The Rolling Stones, is hardly the first of the band’s ever live recordings. Despite that (or even with that in mind) it is just as enjoyable as all of the recordings the band has released to date. That is due in no small part to its featured set list and the band’s performance thereof. Spanning a total of 20 songs, the set list features plenty of familiar live favorites, such as ‘Beast of Burden,’ ‘Honky Tonk Women’ and ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash,’ which opens the show. At the same time, the set list also features a handful of songs that have not been included in those previously noted recordings. That includes and is not limited to songs, such as ‘You Don’t Have To Mean It,’ ‘Can’t You Hear Me,’ and ‘Hand of Fate.’ ‘Stray Cat Blues,’ ‘No Expectations’ and a cover of the 1954 Bert Berns/Solomon Burke/Jerry Wexler hit ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’ are also among those rarities. That blend of familiar and rare is a nice change of pace that every audience will love. While not necessarily a career-spanning set list, it does find the band reaching into some parts of its catalog that up to that point, it had otherwise rarely if at all touched on. That is in regard to albums and songs. For instance, ‘Hand of Fate’ was pulled from the band’s 1976 album Black and Blue, which the band had not pulled from in any of its existing live recordings released so far through Mercury Studios. ‘Neighbours,’ which comes early in the set list, is pulled from the band’s beloved 1981 album, Tattoo You. While that album has been presented in past live recordings, the song itself has rarely if ever been part of those shows. To that end, it is further proof of the importance of this set list.
The set list itself is only part of what audiences will appreciate about the concert. The band’s performance thereof is definitely of its own note. Considering that this concert was captured in 2000, some four decades-plus after The Rolling Stones was founded, the band shows it had not lost a step along the way. Front man Mick Jagger’s energy and swagger is just as solid as ever throughout the concert. Guitarists Ron Wood and Keith Richards are just as much on point with their energy in each performance, and the now late, great Charlie Watts keeps the beat so steadily throughout each song. Few if any other bands out there at that point had that level of charisma, cham and energy. That speaks volumes about the band’s performance. In every song, the band gives its all to the audience, and the audience gave right back, making the band give back just as much if not more. It makes for such an engaging and entertaining concert experience that translates so well even on screen.
On yet another positive note is the liner notes featured in the recording’s liner notes. Crafted by author Paul Sexton (who wrote Watts’ biography, Charlie’s Good Tonight: The Authorised Biography of Charlie Watts), the liner notes successfully set the stage for the concert before audiences even take in the performance. Sexton cites Jagger early in the notes, writing of Jagger’s comments that it was a real test on him personally because of the heat inside the theater. Jagger listed the temperature at 35 degrees. Obviously that was Celsius degrees, not Fahrenheit, since it was an indoor concert. 35 degrees Celsius is equivalent to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Considering that, one could see how that and the humidity (of which Jagger is also cited as noting) would make the concert a challenge. To that end, it makes the band’s performance of its extensive set list all the more of a positive.
Sexton also writes in the liner notes of the input from the band on the set list for each show. He writes of how Wood told him how many songs from various albums the band rehearsed ahead of the tour. It shows that the set list here was deliberately and carefully selected. To that end, it makes for even more appreciation for the set list.
Getting back to the band’s performance of the set list, Sexton cites Jagger as saying of smaller, more intimate shows like the one held at The Wiltern, “I become more intense as a singer than as a performer where the accent is more on gestures. And there are songs I can’t do in bigger places. ‘Stray Cat Blues’ is a number I’m not particularly mad about, but it worked really well at The Wiltern. And you get an intensity from a soul tune like ‘That’s How Strong My Love Is’ that you can’t get in a stadium.” Taking these comments into mind, audiences can see that increased intensity more clearly from Jagger. Not that said intensity was not already evident, but it makes it all the clearer, and in turn all the more engaging and entertaining.
As Sexton continues his writing, he lays the groundwork for so many of the songs that the band performs here, even writing about Solomon Burke joining the band on stage for its performance of ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love,’ which helped make Burke a star early on in his career. Between all of that preview content, everything pointed out here in his notes and so much more not pointed out here, Sexton’s liner notes offer so much color and background to this recording’s presentation. They make the overall concert experience all the more enjoyable.
Knowing how much the liner notes do to add to the enjoyment of The Rolling Stones’ performance at The Wiltern, there is still one more item to note in regard to its positives. That item is the recording’s overall production. The audio production and video alike are both as impressive as can be expected for the early part of the new millennium. The audio is expertly balanced throughout the concert, allowing for Jagger and all of the musicians on stage to get equal time in the limelight. The horns give just the right amount of flare at points throughout the concert while the backing vocals once again get so much attention, too. The band’s backing vocalists have always been key in every Rolling Stones performance and this concert is no exception. Audiences can hear them just as clearly as anyone else on stage. Simply put the overall production presented here makes for so much enjoyment in its own right if only in regard to the audio. Audiences who have audio bars and surround sound systems will appreciate that audio production all the more.
The video production is worthy of applause, too. Considering the lighting inside The Wiltern, the production crew did the best it could with the situation. Even viewed on a 4K UHD monitor, the low lighting is obvious, but the picture is still clear. The camera cuts and edits made in post-production do well in their own right to help capture the band’s energy and thusly keep audiences engaged and entertained, too. At no point do the cameras linger on one shot. They change things up just enough throughout to make sure audiences do not get bored. The overall result of the camera work and the edits made post-show is production work on the visual and audio that gives audiences even more to appreciate here. When the expert audio and video production presented here is considered with the positive of the liner notes, the set list and the band’s performance thereof, the whole makes this recording another unquestionably successful offering from The Rolling Stones and Mercury Studios that further cements The Rolling Stones’ place as the greatest rock and roll band in the world.
Live at The Wiltern, the latest live recording from The Rolling Stones, is another presentation that every fan of The Rolling Stones will appreciate along with rock fans in general. It has so much to like, not the least of which being the set list. The set list blends some familiarity with some lesser-commonly performed songs for audiences, giving those viewers plenty to appreciate in itself. The band’s performance of the set list makes for its own share of enjoyment as this band shows itself as having just as much energy roughly forty years into its career as in its younger days. The liner notes that accompany the recording do so well to set the stage for the concert before audiences even take in the performance because of all of the background that they present. The overall production here puts the finishing touch to the recording, making the concert experience all the more enjoyable for audiences at home. Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the recording. All things considered they make Live at The Wiltern one more great concert experience from The Rolling Stones and yet another example of why this act is the single greatest rock band in the world.
Live at The Wiltern is available now through Mercury Studios. More information on the recording is available along with all of The Rolling Stones’ news at:
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More information on this and other titles from Mercury Studios is available at:
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